This week, I’ll give an update on the Portlandlegislative delegation, the Senate passing an increase in the minimum wage, and two bills I testified on in committee.

Portland Delegation

Friday morning, the Portland LegislativeDelegation met with Portland city officials to discuss several issues facing the city, including public infrastructure issues, CanaRx, the working waterfront, and General Assistance. It is important to me that these discussions happen on a regular basis to ensure Portland issues are being addressed in the legislature.

Minimum Wage IncreaseOn Tuesday, the Senate voted on LD 611, “An Act To Adjust Maine’s Minimum Wage Annually Based on Cost-of-living Changes.” This bill would incrementally raise the minimum wage from the current $7.50/hr to $9.00/hr over the next three years, then automatically increase the minimum wage to keep up with inflation.

 

Nearly 1 in 5 jobs in Maine don’t pay enough to lift a family of four out of poverty, much less meet their basic needs. In fact, a person earning minimum wage in Maine has to work for more than an hour just to afford a loaf of bread, a gallon of milk, and a gallon of gas. While the cost of these everyday necessities has increased, Maine’s minimum wage has not risen since 2009. My fellow Senators and I voted to put more money in the pockets of working class Mainers by voting to raise the hourly minimum wage by 50 cents–about the cost of a postage stamp.

 

I believe no Mainer who works full time should have to live in poverty.  It is our responsibility to support people who want to work by paying them a fair wage, and this bill is a step in the right direction.

 

If you haven’t heard it yet, I encourage you to listen to Senator John Patrick’s radio address about the importance of raising the minimum wage. You can find ithere.

Accepting Federal Funds to Expand Healthcare Coverage

Tuesday afternoon, the Health and Human Services Committee heard a bill to accept federal funds to expand healthcare coverage to tens of thousands of Mainers at no cost to the state. Accepting these federal dollars will save the state $690M over the next ten years and provide health insurance for more than 50,000 Mainers. The Governor has recently changed his position and has now joined Democrats in pursuing these funds. There were many people at the public hearing testimony both in support and opposition to the bill.

 

The choice before us is simple and clear: we can fundamentally change the lives of tens of thousands of our friends and neighbors, or we can look the other way and deny them the care they need.

 

Click here to read my testimony to the committee.

Statewide Food Policy

Also on Tuesday afternoon, I introduced my bill, L.D. 745, “An Act To Promote Sustainable Food Policies.” I have worked with Mayor Michael Brennan and members of various food organizations to develop a bill that will help connect food insecure Mainers with programs providing locally grown or harvested food.

 

The bill would establish a 15-member board on Statewide Food Sustainability. The board’s first task will be to develop both a statewide food scarcity plan, and a statewide food sustainability plan. The board will seek input from the Maine Farmland Trust, the City of Portland, the Maine Food Strategy Initiative, and many other groups working on producing more food in Maine and feeding the people in our state. In addition, the board will be tasked with administering the distribution of grants $1.1M annually to support municipalities and other groups working to create a sustainable food system.

 

There are several bills dealing with food policy this session, particularly with increasing the local food in schools, and I am hopefully the committee will develop a comprehensive plan to produce more food in our state.